Was Pope going after the Flurry torpedo blueprints?

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

As the cause of the death of the Kursk nuclear missile carrier, sources who consider themselves to be aware or, at least, trying to create the impression of themselves as such, name the explosion of the Shkval torpedo in the forward torpedo compartment. Sometimes this hypothesis is supplemented by assumptions about an attack by the American submarine Memphis, due to which the detonation occurred.

In addition, the Chinese delegation, which was present at the large-scale maneuvers in the Barents Sea, is credited with the intention to acquire either the very high-speed underwater projectile, or even documentation for its production. The Americans allegedly thwarted these plans with their decisive actions, and the representatives of the PRC left Russia, saying something along the lines of “since this thing explodes like that, we don’t need it.”

In favor of this version, journalists cite the fact of the detention of a US citizen Pope, who was interested in some secret design developments of Russian scientists. Through the media, some parameters of the military-technical device that caused such a risky activity of American intelligence were announced.

The name of the torpedo "Shkval" flashed in the press. The assertion that this miracle weapon has no analogues aroused great enthusiasm among the ranks of patriots, who remembered the "gunpowder in the powder flasks", and the "democratic community" started talking about the militarization of the country and a new round of the arms race, demonstrating the anti-American mood of the Russian leadership.

To understand how effective this miracle weapon can be in the event of a hypothetical conflict in the maritime theater of operations, it should be objectively assessed using available sources. Is the Shkval torpedo so formidable? The characteristics published in the press are not very impressive for the professional military.

The most important thing that distinguishes the object of spy interest from other underwater shells is speed. It is really considerable, over two hundred knots, almost 400 km/h. On this, in fact, the list of unique parameters of the Shkval torpedo ends. The combat radius is from 7 to 13 km, and the mass of the combat charge of 210 kg is clearly not enough to send a serious sea target to the bottom.

To carry out a combat launch of the Shkval torpedo, its carrier must quietly get close to its victim at a distance of a hundred cables, which is quite problematic given the current level of anti-submarine defense. Next is the shot. After the simplest arithmetic calculation, you can get the time after which, in the event of a hit, an explosion will thunder - this is two to three minutes. The question arises of how to avoid a retaliatory defeat, because warships rarely goone by one, and a submarine that sank one of them will immediately begin hunting. The Shkval torpedo-rocket is noisy, cavitation phenomena in the water layers in contact with the projectile body further reduce ste alth. A submarine that is at such a short distance from the enemy squadron, and detected by sonars, will certainly become a victim of a retaliatory strike.

One more question concerns the handling of the Shkval torpedo. It is practically zero, it cannot maneuver such a high-speed object under water.

It turns out that you can only shoot once, with a low probability of hitting and a degree of risk close to guaranteed suicide.

It is hard to believe that it was the Shkval that caused the death of the Kursk, also because after the disaster the operation of the “thick torpedoes” 65-76 “Kit” was suspended, which indirectly confirms the official version of the tragic events.

The question arises as to whether it was worth the American intelligence officer to hunt for the secrets of such a "miracle"? It is possible that there was a reason, some of the applied solutions can be used in relevant developments, although the overall value of the product is very doubtful.